House Dems bring back high-capacity ammunition bill

1/3/13 11:38 AM EST

Making good on a promise made after the Connecticut elementary school shootings, House Democrats plan to reintroduce a bill on the first day of the new Congress that would ban high-capacity ammunition magazines.

The bill would bar the sale or transfer of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds – which had been the case under the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004.

The primary sponsors of the legislation are Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), one of the most vocal gun-control advocates on Capitol Hill, and Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.). In the 112th Congress, the bill at 138 co-sponsors, according to McCarthy’s office.

“These assault magazines help put the ‘mass’ in ‘mass shooting’ and anything we can do to stop their proliferation will save lives in America,” McCarthy said in a statement Thursday. “These devices are used to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible and we owe it to innocent Americans everywhere to keep them out of the hands of dangerous people.”

The Dec. 14 shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., has given perhaps the greatest momentum yet in Washington for enacting gun-control legislation. President Barack Obama has vowed to tackle gun control in his second term in office, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) – who has had a good relationship with the National Rifle Association – has said “every idea should be on the table” to reduce gun violence.

Still, it’s unlikely that any major gun control legislation can get through a Republican-controlled House.

The twin bill to McCarthy and DeGette’s legislation was introduced in the Senate during the 112th Congress by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), another prominent gun-control advocate on Capitol Hill.